Best Budget Smart Phones: Getting More Bang for Your Buck

While everyone knows that Samsung and Google make great phones, they also charge flagship prices for their flagship phones. In order to help you make the most of your money, today we’re looking at some of the best deals out there for smart phone users. Let’s look at the best budget smart phones, starting with the least expensive and working our way up.

Best Budget Smart Phones

Moto G7

Motorola made the first commercial cell phone decades ago, and they’re still producing some of the best budget cell phones you can get. The Moto G7 is no exception to this, either! Despite its low $300 price tag, it’s surprisingly quick and responsive. Many budget phones suffer from laggy, jerky or otherwise weak performance due to their budget processors. Motorola’s done a good job optimizing the Android OS running on this budget phone, however, and it shows.

The camera is also surprisingly solid for a $300 smartphone. Despite using cheaper parts and sidestepping the expensive multi-camera setups of phones like the iPhone XS and Pixel 3, the Moto G7 takes pretty good-looking photos. The make quality is quite solid, too, sporting a stylish glass back like some of the big flagship phones you see in 2019. All in all, this is a great value for $300.

Pixel 3A

The Google Pixel 3A is the budget variation of their stellar Google Pixel 3. While we love the Pixel 3, it’s a little on the pricey side, so the 3A budget version is a welcome addition to the lineup. The most striking thing about the 3A, out of the box, is just how premium it feels for its price. Solid construction, a great-looking display and a strong processor all underscore the otherwise “budget” price of this smartphone.

The most impressive thing in the Pixel 3A, however, is that there is no compromise on the camera despite the price. Google’s Pixel lineup has been renowned for their stellar camera performance, and the 3A follows in those footsteps. If you’re looking for a great Android phone to snap beautiful pictures and work quickly and easily without breaking the bank, look no further than the Pixel 3A.

OnePlus 6T

On the higher end of the “budget” spectrum, we’ve got the OnePlus 6T, coming in at $550. OnePlus might not have a lot of name recognition in America, but it’s a stellar brand that offers up premium-feeling smartphones for less-than-premium prices. The 6T is a generation behind the current OnePlus 7 Pro, but it’s still a rock-solid Android handset with a great processor and better-than-most camera.

If you’re into flashy technology to show off to your friends, the 6T offers up a cool wrinkle: it’s got an in-display fingerprint scanner, like the Galaxy S10 and OnePlus 7 Pro. The phone also sports monthly security updates, and is sold unlocked on OnePlus’s website. Once you have yours, you need only go by a carrier and get the phone activated.

iPhone XR

While few people would call the iPhone XR’s $750 price tag “budget,” it’s got a great suite of features for the price tag. For people interested in dipping their toes into Apple’s new status quo (no home button, Face ID, gesture commands) the XR is the most affordable way to do so. Following in the footsteps of the revolutionary iPhone X, the XR offers up all the power of the flagship iOS device without the flagship price.

Notable features include the stellar Bokeh-style portrait mode, an overall phenomenal processor, blazing-fast performance and a superb display. Everything about the iPhone XR screams “cutting edge,” from the appearance of the device to its sci-fi feeling Face ID unlock system. If your budget can allow for it, this is a great phone for the tech-savvy.